Two more former correctional officers charged in inmate beating at RCI

March 06, 2013

File photo

BALTIMORE — Two more former correctional officers have been charged in connection with the 2008 beating of an inmate at Roxbury Correctional Institution south of Hagerstown, bringing the total number of people charged in the case to 14, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.

Robert Harvey and Keith Morris, former correctional officers at RCI, have been charged on civil rights offenses in the beating of an inmate identified as “K.D.,” according to the Department of Justice.

The inmate referred to as K.D. in the Justice Department release was identified in Herald-Mail accounts at the time as former Roxbury inmate Kenneth Davis.

Harvey is also facing an obstruction of justice charge, the Department of Justice said.

According to the indictment, handed up Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Harvey falsified a document in an attempt to impede, obstruct and influence an investigation.

Harvey signed a Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services investigator’s summary and a Maryland Division of Correction post-incident review that omitted that he and other officers used force against Davis, the indictment said.

Harvey faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and Morris faces up to 10 years in prison.

Three former RCI correctional officers have pleaded guilty in the beating of Davis, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Lohr is scheduled to be sentenced June 18 and Norris and Mayo are to be sentenced Oct. 28.

Department of Justice officials have said officers met at RCI during a midnight shift and agreed to assault Davis in retaliation for a prior incident involving Davis and another officer.

Four officers entered Davis’ cell to assault him and the officers used their fists and feet to strike Davis, according to the Department of Justice.

After Lohr learned there would be an investigation into the beating, he met with other RCI officers and agreed to cover up the assault, officials have said. Lohr directed others to clean up blood in Davis' cell and a supervisor used what appeared to be a magnetic device in an effort to destroy video surveillance footage, officials said.

Fourteen correctional officers were charged locally or by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. Six were convicted of charges ranging from second-degree assault to conspiracy to commit assault. Three of them received jail sentences.